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Interview Assignment

Gabriel Gjyla

Professor von Uhl

21002-C

4/29/2018

                                                    Get the Spaghetti Out of Your Head!

Salvatore Ambrossio sat in his old, wooden, and broken down chair that he has claimed for the past fifteen years. No one dared to sit on his chair because they knew it was his, even though there was no written rule that said anything. He is an old school Italian- also known as “everyone’s favorite uncle” on the Arthur Ave section of Little Italy. He has a skinny frame with big and bushy eyebrows that looks like a mustache on top of his eyes. As he laughed, his hoarse voice started to show his many years of chain-smoking, not that he seemed to care.  Furthermore, the cigarette in his hand started to follow his hand movement whenever he moved, distracting me from paying attention to what he was saying at any particular moment. As a regular and weekly customer at the Arthur Avenue retail market, I have gotten used to seeing Salvatore there, but I’ve never spoke to him. As I got to talk with him, I learned that he knew more about the neighborhood then I ever thought, and his thoughts about the community were honest and controversial- even for a guy who has lived in the community for as long as he has. Learning that he has lived in the neighborhood for all fifty-five years of his life, it is safe to assume that he is an historic part of the neighborhood, which is why I chose to interview.

I met Salvatore in the Café al Mercato, which happens to be my favorite place in the market. He seemed to know everyone in there, always making sure to acknowledge every person that walked through. He even seemed to know them enough to ask personal questions about their lives, which got me thinking as to how important he could be to this community.  As I asked him about his role in this market, he seemed to be like a living encyclopedia for the neighborhood, especially for the market. His aunt used to be one of the merchants that sold Italian dairy products, such as milk, cheese, and meats. His aunt’s store had the recognition that labeled it to have some of the most reliable and freshest products in the market. It was loved by the entire Italian community. However, that seemed to change when the Italian community seemed to have new residents from other cultures and the original Italian immigrants eventually got enough money to find bigger and better homes upstate. As I looked around the Café that I was seated at, I couldn’t help but notice the colossal Italian and American flags circling around the whole market, making sure they were the first things to be seen when the customers walked inside.  The meat store right next to the Café was nothing short of mesmerizing-with the smell of dried beef, pork, and lamb in every corner of my nostrils. As I have been around this particular neighborhood myself, I have noticed some new restaurants that have been opened that focused on food from other countries such as Mexico, Greece, and Turkey. I wanted to see how Salvatore would feel about the neighborhood in the current state, and how the ideal future would look like in his point of view.

                                                  Interview

Me: So Salvatore, can I ask you about what you remember most about this grand market?

Salvatore: Man, I’ve had so many adventures here that I don’t really know where to start.

Me: How about if you talk about your aunt’s store?

Salvatore: God rest her soul. My aunt Maria had the brightest smile that made ever customer naturally come to her. The food was so great that she received a newspaper article one day, citing how special and fresh her food was. But she decided to close it one day because it wasn’t receiving enough money. I remember her telling me “I got to shut this place down because these new people won’t give me enough money to survive in the future.”

Me: What do you think she meant by “these new people?’

Salvatore: It’s the people from the new cultures moving into the neighborhood! They are trying to take our neighborhood like it’s up for sale. I ain’t having none of it.

Me: If you don’t mind me asking, why don’t you like people from different cultures moving into the neighborhood?

Salvatore: Listen kid, you seem like a smart guy. I understand you go to college (I was weaing a CCNY hat), so I hope you can understand my point. These new people are disrespecting our Italian culture. They come in here to open new restaurants and new stores, but they don’t respect our culture. This whole neighborhood was made by our grandfathers and grandmothers who worked their whole lives to make sure our lives would be better than theirs.. And I want my kids and the next generation to have an all-Italian community when they grow up too! Is that too much to ask?

Me: I see what you mean Sal. You just want the Italian community to continue to thrive in this neighborhood. So I have to ask you, what do you suggest for the other people that have been recently moving in?

Salvatore: Find a different spot. In fact, make something similar to “Little Italy” of their own. Just don’t come into our neighborhood and try to take it over.

Me: Would you go into a restaurant that is not Italian-based?

Salvatore: Of course I would kid! I love trying things from different places. The problem I have is if the stores move into my neighborhood. I would definitely go try a new meal in Chinatown, but I would not want to live there! They should open food-based restaurants based on where the community is focused on.

Me: Sal, if I can ask you, what specific cultures would you not want to see come into the neighborhood?

Salvatore: I’m not saying that I don’t want people coming to eat here. They can come observe the beautiful Italian culture and eat. But they should find their way back home at the end of the day. In the past five years, I’ve seen new restaurants that are from Greek, Spanish, Dominican, Albanian, and Russian cultures. But when these new restaurants open in the community, it means old Italian restaurants are closing. And you know I don’t want that.

Me: Do you feel like the Italian identity of the neighborhood is slowly being lost?

Salvatore: Yes! (with a loud bang on the table) Now you get me kid! I feel like the Italian identity is being lost if we let more cultures come into our community. It’s bad enough that most of the original Italians have left, but now there is competition from other cultures.

Me: Ahh. I see, it’s like you’re losing your memories from childhood, in a way?

Salvatore: Kind of.  It’s like this younger generation of Italian kids have forgotten what it means to be Italian; to attend Saint Anthony’s Feast, have family- style Sunday dinner (without using the iphones), to love and take care of your grandparents while they’re still alive.

Me: So you feel like the young Italian kids in the neighborhood are neglecting their “duties’?

Salvatore: Mamma mia! These new kids have to get the spaghetti out of their heads, I swear!

Me: (While laughing) That sounds pretty funny. What do you mean by that?

Salvatore: It’s an Italian thing, you wouldn’t understand.  

Me: Can you help me understand?

Salvatore: I’m saying that people have to realize the beauty of what they have over here before it disappears. If new restaurants keep opening up that aren’t Italian, it won’t be long before the people from those communities pour in this neighborhood. After that, it won’t be long before the Italians become a minority in our own neighborhood!

Me: I understand your feelings Sal, but what do you think about the different immigrants that bring new cultural experiences to America?

Salvatore: They can come to America, but they should just find places where they can have a community similar to Little Italy of their own.

Me: One last question, if I may? How do you feel that I, being an Albanian, regularly shop in this market and love the Italian community?

Salvatore: I love it kid; in fact I would never tell you to stop coming here. Any way to view Italians as great and hardworking people is always a good thing. As a matter of fact, there’s this new Italian store that I heard will open up in the next year. If you want, I can tell you what meals are the best ‘cause I know the guy that will hire the chef. It will be great, and as the Italians say- Buon appetito (Enjoy your meal)!

                                                         (End Interview)

As the interview wrapped up, I kept notice of some particular things that Salvatore had placed significance on. He wants the new generation to embrace their Italian heritage, beginning with buying from the market, as well as take part in the holiday festivities. I understood where Salvatore was coming from: he was an aging man who had traditional viewpoints about Italians being in the same community and taking care of each other. The new ethnicities moving in threatened the very existence of that, which is why I understand his dislike for them. Honestly, I feel like this is the current state of America at the moment- scared of new changes. There seems to be a fear of the immigrants, especially brought down by the negative connotations by our current president towards immigrants coming into the United States. Although Salvatore offered an honest disapproval towards new communities of people moving into his neighborhood, it seems like it poses a problem that makes the public scared of other people that aren’t the same as them.  However, if everyone felt that way towards immigrants, then America would lose its sense of identity, mainly because America was built by immigrants! The main point is that even though some of the people in the community might have negative feelings towards change, it is up to the rest of the Little Italy community to be welcoming and willing to offer help for the new immigrants, just as their families were offered help by people from different cultures back during the early 1920s. As the community continues to evolve with different cultures and groups of people moving in, it makes me wonder as to how this beautiful market will change and evolve to meet the new demands of the next generation, and how long it will continue to be an all Italian market.


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